chrisremo

Is there any knowable system that governs what category of reward fares will be available for different airlines on given flights?

I was looking to book SFO-LHR in business class or above on AA using miles, but it appears that, regardless of dates, only BA flights—not AA flights—are available for MileSAAver tickets, and I'm not crazy about paying BA's surcharges on a reward flight.

Am I missing something or is this just how it is always?

Should I expect not to be able to fly to LHR without booking AAnytime (which is a ton of miles, as this is for two people) or blowing thousands on surcharges?